Griffin remarks to be edited from Emmycast

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 11th, 2007

Life on the D-list just got a little hotter:

“Kathy Griffin’s offensive remarks will not be part of the E! telecast on Saturday night,” the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday.

In her speech, Griffin said that “a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.”

She went on to hold up her Emmy, make an off-color remark about Christ and proclaim, “This award is my god now!”

Hollwyood.com said that if Griffin won, “she wasn’t going up unprepared, with a ‘pretty fairly offensive speech about Jesus’ already on paper.” So, the blasphemy was premeditated. Scripted outrageousness. No one ever said Griffin wasn’t skilled at garnering publicity. But, up until now– at least outside of her live act– blasphemy wasn’t in her arsenal. From a business standpoint– considering that one-quarter of all Americans self-identify as Catholics and 85 per cent as Christians– it’s fairly boneheaded. Just ask Sinead O’Connor.

Apparently, the exact “speech” was, “Can you believe this shit? Hell has frozen over. Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god now!” According to an account in the Hollywood Reporter, the remarks “drew laughs” from those on hand. Of course, we’ll never actually hear the response.

Griffin’s remarks somehow made it to the ears of the folks at the Catholic League, whose president labeled the remarks a “vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.” And E!, responding to pressure from the Academy, who reponded to pressure from the Catholic League, will edit the remarks from the final broadcast.

Note to Griffin: If you’re going to go for the shock-value statement, do it on live TV, like O’Connor on SNL! These comments were made at a taping of the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards (what usta be called the Technical Emmys, if we’re not mistaken). A taping of a show that will air a week later. On E! And now it’s going to be cut out.

Done live– and getting a good response– the folks at home would hear the remarks, hear the laughter and then the Catholic League folks might appear overly sensitive or, at the very least, grumpy. The remarks on paper (or on the WWW)– excised from their context as they are now– are wince-inducing. They fall flat and, even to some who might not normally be sympathetic to the C.L., might actually appear to be a “vulgar, in-your-face brand of hate speech.”

You can’t fault the Catholic League. It’s not a softball organization. Leaning on TV networks and cable outlets when somebody disses Jesus is what they do.

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